HB 1113

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to clerks of the circuit court; amending
3	s. 28.36, F.S.; requiring that a budget request from a
4	clerk of court be based on the projected case activity for
5	each core service; deleting a requirement that the Florida
6	Clerks of Court Operations Corporation make a certain
7	estimate; deleting a requirement that the corporation
8	decrease the amount of funds to be released to a clerk of
9	court if the clerk performed fewer service units in
10	previous quarters than estimated; providing an effective
11	date.
12
13	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15	Section 1.  Subsections (4) and (10) of section 28.36,
16	Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
17	28.36  Budget procedure.-There is established a budget
18	procedure for preparing budget requests for funding for the
19	court-related functions of the clerks of the court.
20	(4)  The budget request must identify the service units to
21	be provided within each core service. The service units shall be
22	developed by the corporation, in consultation with the Supreme
23	Court, the Chief Financial Officer, and the appropriations
24	committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The
25	budget request must be based on the projected case activity for
26	each core service.
27	(10)(a)  Beginning in the 2010-2011 fiscal year, The
28	corporation shall release appropriations to each clerk
29	quarterly. If funds in the Clerks of Court Trust Fund are
30	insufficient to provide a release in a quarter in a single
31	release, the corporation may release partial amounts for that
32	quarter so long as the total of those partial amounts does not
33	exceed that quarter's release. If funds in the Clerks of Court
34	Trust Fund are insufficient for the first quarter release, the
35	corporation may make a request to the Governor for a trust fund
36	loan pursuant to chapter 215. The amount of the first three
37	releases shall be based on one quarter of the estimated budget
38	for each clerk as identified in the General Appropriations Act.
39	(b)  The corporation shall estimate the fourth quarter's
40	number of units to be performed by each clerk. The amount of the
41	fourth-quarter release shall be based on the approved unit cost
42	times the estimated number of units of the fourth quarter with
43	the following adjustment: the fourth-quarter release shall be
44	adjusted based on the first three quarter's actual number of
45	service units provided as reported to the corporation by each
46	clerk. If the clerk has performed fewer service units in the
47	first three quarters of the year compared to three quarters of
48	the estimated number of service units in the General
49	Appropriations Act, the corporation shall decrease the fourth-
50	quarter release. The amount of the decrease shall equal the
51	amount of the difference between the estimated number of service
52	units for the first three quarters and the actual number of
53	service units provided in the first three quarters times the
54	approved unit cost.
55	(c)  No adjustment for the fourth-quarter release shall be
56	made if the clerk has performed more units than the estimate for
57	the first three quarters.
58	(d)  If the clerk performs fewer units in the fourth
59	quarter than estimated by the corporation, the corporation shall
60	decrease the first-quarter release for the clerk in the next
61	fiscal year by the amount of the difference between the
62	estimated number of service units for the fourth quarter and the
63	actual number of service units performed in that quarter times
64	the approved unit cost.
65	(b)(e)  The total of all releases to the clerks of court
66	may not exceed the amount appropriated in the General
67	Appropriations Act. If, during the year, the corporation
68	determines that the projected releases of appropriations for
69	service units will exceed the estimate used in the General
70	Appropriations Act and result in statewide expenditures greater
71	than the amount appropriated by law, the corporation shall
72	reduce all service unit costs of all clerks by the amount
73	necessary to ensure that service units are funded within the
74	total amount appropriated to the clerks of court. If such action
75	is necessary, the corporation shall notify the Legislative
76	Budget Commission. If the Legislative Budget Commission objects
77	to the adjustments, the Legislative Budget Commission shall
78	adjust all service unit costs by the amount necessary to ensure
79	that projected units of service are funded within the total
80	amount appropriated to the clerks of court at its next scheduled
81	meeting.
82	Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.